previously, and while they might bother some users, I think that most people will be thrilled with what this device can do. For one thing, it can be shoehorned into a squashed-down rack space that many other upscale players can only dream of achieving. Yes, it is expensive by Best-Buy budget player standards, but it is cheap compared to some other upscale units and it can almost certainly play SACD and DVD-A releases as well as any of them. Actually, it probably can do this better than most, due to the admittedly not quite comprehensive bass-management and distance- compensation features.

The video performance was first-rate, and so was the DD and DTS audio performance. I gave it a defect- tracking test with the Canadian CD Check disc and it tracked cleanly to defect check level 3, with substantial interference (clicking) noises at levels 4 and 5.

Level-3 performance will handle just about any kind of defect one might encounter with a CD, although I have to admit that some of the other players I have reviewed in the past could track level 4 cleanly. (The earliest Yamaha player that I reviewed, the DVD- S795, could do this, and the later DVD-S1200 had only minor problems with level 4.) Given that players I have

fooled with that could only track level 1 cleanly still sounded superb with musical source materials, any hair splitting over greater defect tracking abilities is just that: hair splitting.

Yep, the DVD-S1500 is a fine player, and I have no problem recommending it to individuals who want to play back SACD and DVD-A materials, in addition to compact discs and DVD movie releases. Topping things off, its musical performance with compact discs is equal to that of any other players I have auditioned.

I pulled the cover off of the unit and gave the digital to analog converter (DAC) number and some other internal information to Dr. David Rich to research. The model CS4382 DAC was built by Cirrus Logic. These are the folks who now own Crystal Semiconductor, a division of the company that does data converter design work, and Dr. Rich checked the Cirrus data sheet to come up with some info. He indicated that the most important thing that separates the great players from those that are merely good involves the quality of the DAC. Below is some

technical info that is a review all by itself, courtesy of Dr. Rich. You will not see technical summary like this in our magazine very often, so pay attention.

-HF

Dr. David Rich on DACs, including the one used in the DVD-S1500: The CS4382 DAC delivers better than average behavior. To make life easier for our readers I am converting specification from the data sheet into effective number of bits (ENOBS). From the data sheet we find the CS4382 has typical 19-bit performance for noise, and with worst case 18-bit performance. When a manufacture states that a parameter is “worst case,” this means that another manufacturer using the part in his product can test that part and expect it to meet the specification.

Unfortunately, a specification marked “typical” on a specification sheet can be a problem, because many manufacturers do not say what “typical” means. However, any decent designer designs only with worst-case numbers in mind if the parts performance for what he is designing can affect the stated specifications of the final system. For example, the

motor in a DVD player had better be able to spin fast enough so the player can read the DVD. A “typical” spin speed in the motor’s specification world not cut it. In other words, the designer would want the motor manufacturer to supply a worst-case motor spin speed to make sure that the player can always meet minimum standards.

With some DA converter specification listings, only the “typical” specs are given. If the final-product manufacturer uses those chips and has done no assembly line testing to insure that DVD players delivered to consumers meet some minimum specification, many of those players may not do so. This is the case, unless the manufacture indicates the specification is guaranteed, as is the case under federal law for amplifier power output under a specified load, frequency range and THD. To my knowledge, the only hi-fi company that currently states that the all the specifications they issue are guaranteed minimums (or maximums) is Accuphase.

The noise figures I have just given in ENOBS are